Quote:
Originally Posted by Tinordi
What a terrible way to open the tournament. Soccer is such a circus act. Two terrible calls leading a -2 goal differential for Croatia. I'm not a Croatia fan but seeing a win like that is just brutal.
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I'm sorry, but you're just wrong. Yes, most commentators are also wrong, but it's pretty clear that both the penalty kick was absolutely the right call, as was calling the play dead before Croatias goal.
First of all, the Croatian quite clearly deliberately tackled the Brazilian goalie. It was actually a great call, very difficult to make in that situation and really shows why that japanese guy was chosen for this game. He had both the guts to make the right call and he saw the infraction which was not obvious from every angle.
As for the penalty kick, let me explain how soccer is not hockey and how this relates to "diving" and that penalty kick.
1) Opposite to how it is in hockey, FIFA has clearly mandated that players in scoring positions are to be MORE protected than players further away. So unlike in hockey, where normal contact rules don't apply in goalfront scrums, in soccer they should at least in theory be especially stringently applied. Yes, I'm aware that the actual refereeing styles vary from country to country, but that has for quite a while now been a FIFA mandate. FIFA also uses the World Cup as a forum to unify the refereeing styles. This is especially true for the opening matches. You will most likely see more "light" holding calls during this tournament.
(The ref had also already talked to the Croations about the holding during the many corner kicks, so really it shouldn't have come as any surprise. The Croatians are just sore losers, despite being clearly outmatched in the game.)
As for the card:
Here you have it in FIFA's own words:
http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/worl...8/law12-en.pdf
Quote:
Referees are reminded to make an early intervention and to deal firmly with holding offences especially inside the penalty area at corner kicks and free kicks.
To deal with these situations:
• the referee must warn any player holding an opponent before the ball is in
play
• caution the player if the holding continues before the ball is in play
• award a direct free kick or penalty kick and caution the player if it happens once the ball is in play
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No two ways about it. If you call a penalty kick for holding, you flash the card.
Actually, you might as well have carded the Croatian based on this:
Quote:
Cautions for unsporting behaviour
There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for
unsporting behaviour, e.g. if a player:
• commits a foul for the tactical purpose of interfering with or breaking up a
promising attack
• holds an opponent for the tactical purpose of pulling the opponent away
from the ball or preventing the opponent from getting to the ball
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The Croatian clearly pulled Fred back with both hands before the goal. He did try to be clever about it and only pull him back enough to make it difficult for him to play, but not enough to tackle him down. It's very smart play, the hallmark of good defensemen. 9 times out of 10 he gets away with that. However it's still clearly a foul, and crying because you occasionally get called for it is just stupid.
Now let's get to the "dive"...
2) Unlike hockey, soccer does not have delayed penalties. If a foul is not called immediately, you can't call it later.
This is actually much more significant difference than most people realize. If Fred keeps playing when he's being held, it's effectively a message to the referee that he wants the ref to apply advantage. ("Applying advantage" is when you don't call the foul because it would actually be more beneficial to the team that fouled.)
So, when you say Fred "dived", you should remember that his choices in the situation where effectively:
a) try to be the hero and score, probably denying your team a penalty kick
b) go down and let the ref make the call
Was there embellishment? Sure. But it doesn't change the fact that what Fred did was absolutely the right thing to do in that situation. Every succesful soccer country understands that this is simply how the rules work.
("Succesful" does not include for example England. (Or Finland for that matter.) Their frowning upon "dives" and love of "rough play" has pretty much lead to a situation where if you're going to have a long career as a high-skill player, your best options are to be a Rooney-type tank or getting out of Premier League like David Beckham.)
"Fighting through tackles" in soccer is not "manly". It's stupid, often selfish, makes refereeing hard, and for strikers is a great way to have a short and injury-filled career. (Anyone remember that young stud Michael Owen?)
It's how the game works and has proven to work very well. Yes, it's a bit of a mind-bender if you mostly just watch hockey, but really there's no point in getting furious about it.
Of course there are actual dives that were not due to fouls, but those are much more rare than what people who don't get the sport generally think.
To sum it up:
Well reffed game, and more entertaining than most tournament opening matches. They're often among the worst games in the tournament.
